Who Should I Start? Aaron Rodgers or Desmond Ridder

Tuesday, November 25, 12:38 PM

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said that he has "great optimism" that quarterback Aaron Rodgers (wrist) will be able to play on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills in Week 13, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I'm comfortable with his general trajectory," Tomlin said. Rodgers suffered a small non-displaced fracture in his left (non-throwing) wrist in the Week 11 win over the Cincinnati Bengals and did not play in Sunday's loss to the Chicago Bears. The 41-year-old future Hall of Famer will be limited in practice to start the week, but he's expected to give it a go this weekend against Buffalo. If Rodgers does play on Sunday, he will likely be wearing a protective brace on his left wrist. Through 12 weeks of the season, Rodgers ranks as the QB28 in fantasy points per game while throwing for 1,969 yards, 19 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. The matchup against Buffalo is a good one, but Rodgers will still only be a low-end QB2 in fantasy if he starts.

Tuesday, September 16, 5:09 PM

The Minnesota Vikings signed free-agent quarterback Desmond Ridder to their 53-man roster on Monday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The Vikings need some depth at the QB position with J.J. McCarthy out two to four weeks after suffering a high-ankle sprain in the Sunday night loss to the Atlanta Falcons. With McCarthy out for Week 3 against the Cincinnati Bengals and possibly beyond, veteran Carson Wentz will step into starting duties under center for Minnesota, with undrafted rookie Max Brosmer serving as his backup. Given Brosmer's lack of experience in the NFL, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Ridder be elevated to the No. 2 role sooner than later once he learns the offense. Ridder, a third-round pick in 2022 by the Falcons, quickly wore out his welcome in Atlanta and spent last year as the backup for the Las Vegas Raiders.